


How to Comfort: Kuroko Tetsuya

by ringomido



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Kuroko is a sweetheart and is comforted fo sho, Multi, crying baby, literally just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-01-08 05:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ringomido/pseuds/ringomido
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bunch of dumb Miracles try to figure out how to stop one special Kuroko Tetsuya from crying. Fluff ensured! Or just dorks. Works either way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Player one: Ahomine

How the _hell_ was he supposed to deal with this?!

There stood his partner-- his shadow -- his best friend for god sakes and he was crying. Crying like he had just lost everything important to him in the entire world. Crying like he was giving up. Crying, crying, _god damn fucking crying--_

As you could tell, Aomine was not one for comfort.

Yet how was he supposed to not help out with this?! It’s bad enough he didn’t know what to say in times like these but to make it even worse by having it being his beloved Tetsu? Now he knew for sure someone up there had it in for him.

Sighing, a tanned hand raised itself up to rub at his neck, a frown taking place on his ever smirking lips. He could already feel the tension filling him up, making his movements awkward as he sauntered forward towards his partner.

Hearing the noise, Kuroko automatically stiffened up and moved to hide his tears away from his friend. He had been caught in something so fragile and mortifying-- even more so worse knowing that it had been Aomine who had found him. How was he going to explain himself? How could he have been so vulnerable near someone he looked up to so much? The pull between their friendship had only been growing lately and Kuroko feared that this would only make things worse. His vision blurred once more; there just was no winning, was there?

A hand found its way abruptly to Kuroko’s head and he gave out a tiny yelp. Turning to face Aomine, his eyes widened in worry. God this had been a bad idea-- Aomine had no idea what to do now. What could you do at this point? He considered the possibility of hugging the damn kid yet that seemed almost too much for even Aomine...Hugging was more stationed towards the Satsuki department and (thankfully) he didn’t need to pull that move often. Now he was back to square one. How the hell does he make the damn crying stop? As he mused, his hand moved accordingly by default-- long fingers dug themselves into the light blue hair, combing through the flowing strands and making way to comfort. Kuroko sniffled quietly, his head falling in time to the gentle ministrations as he soaked up the warmth of Aomine’s care. Eyes fluttering shut, he nearly missed the surprised look on Aomine’s face.

_Oh._

Oh shit, he was already comforting the little guy. He should really give himself more credit-- to think that he wasn't capable of calming down his own _partner_? Psh. A grin made its way to his face, easily much more natural for the teen than a frown at that time and he messed his way further into Kuroko’s hair. A sigh emitted from the shadow’s mouth, despite the small, grateful smile shown before hand.

“Aomine-kun, please stop that.” He murmured quietly, deep setting blue eyes glancing upwards towards darker yet similar ones.

“Geez, Tetsu-- lemme just be nice for a change.”

“We both know that that’s not possible.”

“Oi--!!” Aomine called out, a pout making way now in response to the tiny teases Kuroko had thrown back at him. Chuckling to himself, Kuroko lifted up his own hand and placed it against Aomine’s wrist, gently tugging away the prying fingers from his already haywire like hair. A warm silence dribbled down between them for only a few moments before Kuroko mumbled out a quiet but oh so _fucking_ worth it, “Thank you…” Grinning full on, Aomine couldn’t help but congratulate himself on his accomplishment-- who said he couldn't be sentimental and caring?

Assholes.


	2. Player Two: Kise Ryouta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for Kise-san!

“Kurokocchi…?”

 

The moment he saw that flushed face framed with tears, eyes quivering in sudden surprise and melancholic reasons, Kise was already beginning to well up.

 

Now, the blonde was not afraid to cry-- he was rather comfortable with crying. He felt the need to do it every so often, as admitting to his sadness and pent up frustrations honestly helped him grow stronger every day. But those were tiny cries; little things that made him upset, that he easily got over once he finished his spell of raging emotions. It was normal for people to do that.

 

So, supposedly seeing Kuroko now, the ‘lame’ yet respected old team mate from his middle school years, someone he, The Kise Ryouta, looked up to, crying in such a defeated state, made his heart swell in empathy.

 

And now he was crying.

 

His weeping overthrew the smaller boy’s, his eyes blurred in effect and his hands trembling as he rose them carelessly to wipe roughing at the tears. It made him sad to see his friend in such a state. He hated it. Kise wanted to fix things as soon as possible yet here he was, only making things worse by crying out of understanding and regret rather than actually being useful.

 

God, sometimes he loathed himself and his overwhelming emotions.

 

Feeling heat raise to his cheeks in embarrassment, his thoughts ran full frontal in vain attempts to calm himself down, with comments saying, ‘Kurokocchi is the one that needs comforting right now!’ and ‘You probably look ridiculous...’ to even, ‘You’re still so hopeless.’

 

Thinking that there was no point in even trying any more to try and help his friend, Kise started to leave; perhaps Kuroko didn’t notice his burst of tears just now. Maybe he was still able to get out of this situation without any embarrassment or need for explanation!

 

To no avail, Kise was caught. He was caught in that instant and Kuroko couldn’t help but feel shocked-- was Kise also dealing with things today? Maybe he was stressed...and seeing Kuroko only sent him off? Feeling guilt sink in through his very being, Kuroko pursed his lips and made an effort to catch up to Kise.

 

Being so kept up in his own little world, Kise, as expected, hardly anticipated the boy to catch up to him so quickly. With a gentle tug of the wrist, the blonde was halted in his escape and forced to turn around to face the Phantom.

A quick glance or so was enough for Kuroko to figure out Kise’s state. With a soft move of his hand, eyebrows coming together in a worried expression, all the while his eyes still glistening wet from the previous tears that had been unable to be shed, Kuroko took hold of the others face, making the blonde meet his gaze.

 

“...What’s wrong, Kise-kun?”

 

With a surprised gasp and an even heavier set blush, the blonde felt the tears flood over and suddenly he was blubbering nonsense, his voice wavering between high pitched and tiny mumbles that were nearly impossible to decept.

 

Through it all, Kuroko eventually smiled, his hand moving in caring motions as he wiped as gently as he could across the others cheeks to remove the tears, his eyes understanding as he nodded every so often in chance Kise thought he wasn’t listening.

 

He did sigh inwardly, though-- he couldn’t help it. The fact that Kise, of all people (especially in such circumstances) was able to make him feel better by crying himself? Was almost unbelieveable.

  
Almost.


	3. Player Three: Midorima Shintarou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mido-chan, you tsun you.

“Kuroko, stop crying.”

 

“Why don’t you be quiet, Midorima-kun?”

 

There was an awkward silence, of course--absolutely! As if he had any other option against the damn kid. The fact that he had been dragged along to watch some god damn movie to accompany his team mates with is what bothered him at first-- having it be a action/drama was even worse (he was a horror type of man or historical at best) but to have him sit, seemingly trapped between Kise (which was bad enough considering his loud sobbing into Aomine’s shirt as the other slept) and Kuroko was almost too much for him.

 

He had never honestly seen Kuroko cry before. He had seen the other upset before, of course, and at times he almost swore to himself and his lucky item that he had seen a few tears escape but this type of crying?! The sniffling, red eyed, emotionally invoked type of crying?!

 

God, he could just feel the tension rise within him.

 

“Kuroko, I demand you to stop crying this instant-- ! Kise, that goes for you too! You both look ridiculous.”

 

“Aah, Midorimacchi-- hic! -- be quiet! Y--You don’t understand...Wah...How sad this is!”

 

“The women died in attempting to save her beloved. What is so sad about that?” He asked, his deep voice stoned in emptiness, void of any emotion as he stared hard at Kise, who at the moment was wiping his nose against Aomine’s sleeve in retaliation for sleeping through the majority of the movie.

 

“Do you even hear yourself!?”

 

An agitated shushing came from behind and someone kicked Midorima’s seat in anger. Feeling his eyebrow twitch in annoyance, the teen lowered himself further into the seat in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration.

 

It was just his luck that there was still another hour left in the movie.

 

\--

Once outside, they all took the time to reflect on the movie as they made their way back to the train station. Aomine and Kise were fighting, Momoi too emotionally exhausted to tell them to calm down so she decidedly chose to stay behind to talk to Akashi and Murasakibara instead which left Midorima and Kuroko idly walking in the back of the group-- a subtle truce of choosing to both stay quiet being made between them the moment they left the theatre.

 

Midorima was fine with the silence-- even enjoyed it to an extent. It left him in his thoughts, of the movie and of his dismay of being forced into such a thing to which all of it led him back to Kuroko. Kise was one thing, however to see the phantom sixth man cry in such a willing thing was new to him. Unknown territory that did not come with playing basketball. Or with watching Oha Asa.

 

Hell, he was still only in middle school-- was he supposed to have this figured out already?! This whole ordeal of comforting another? How does one even initiate such a task without breaking someones privacy?

 

Stealing a look down at the other, he nearly froze at the image of Kuroko still seemingly on the verge of tears-- his eyes downcast in thought, the only sound emitting from him being the constant little ‘sniffles’ from his running nose.

 

The last thread holding his sanity together bursted and broke.

 

Silently, he reached into his pocket and took out his lucky item; an embroidered handkerchief. Grimacing at the idea, his body moved on its own and carefully, wrapped fingers were holding out his precious item of the day, handing it to Kuroko.

 

It was unexpected to both boys, Kuroko turning his head slightly to look up at the other in confusion all the while Midorima focused his quivering face now into a glare, helplessly ignoring the heat in his cheeks that was now creeping up to even his ears.

 

In hesitation, the shadow frowned almost worrisome before taking hold of the item and bringing it up to his face.

 

“Thank you very much.” He mumbled behind it, cautiously wiping his eyes first before his nose. Sadly, all that Midorima could respond with was a little less than a grunt before he turned his gaze elsewhere, the sneer still apparent as they continued walking.

 

A tiny sniffle came before Kuroko used the handkerchief to more or less hide the smile that was now growing on his lips.

 

Even if it had been a small gesture, it still counted. And Kuroko truly was thankful.

  
Even if it was Midorima.


	4. Player Four: Momoi Satsuki

Momoi had seen Kuroko cry before. Only once, and it had been over a “petty matter” (his words, not hers). Despite this, she swore to herself that she couldn’t possibly allow that to happen again. Momoi didn’t think she could handle it (more so her heart wouldn’t be able to) if she saw her beloved Tetsu crying.

So how did she end up here? With Kuroko caught, eyes beginning to pool with unshed cries, his hands and voice trembling and he tried ever so desperately to convince Momoi of anything else other than him being upset... Why was he so embarrassed by such an act? How could he be? There was no shame in crying-- Hell, even she cried (often…). And who was almost always there to pick her back up? Kuroko.

So why couldn’t she do the same for him?

With a hesitance that was unlike her, she took a careful step forward, only to frown at the flinch given by the Shadow. Her mind began to race again, by unprecedented reactions and possible faults that could come by her meddlesome nature. Yet at the same time, a part of her wanted to keep moving forward. She wanted Kuroko to cry, to yell, to take out everything onto her simply for the sake that he was doing so with her. An ideal of faith and trust that she could only wish for. And despite the slim to no chances of it working, Momoi listened to that side of herself-- her heart, her body and just like that she was walking over once more.

Kuroko hid his face, eyes sheltered under his ever so growing bangs. Hands seizing against themselves, fingers crossing over into a lock so strong it only made the trembling worse, Kuroko silenced himself from anymore faulty explanation. Not that Momoi would have listened.

“Tetsu-kun…?”

She called out, her voice soft and inviting-- though Kuroko did not falter.

“Momoi-san...Ah-- I’m sorry, but could you leave me alone for a bit?”

She knew it wasn’t personal, she _knew_ and understood that he almost always focused his pain and suffering merely more to himself against actually opening up to his friends-- his teammates. Even so, those words pierced her heart and she could feel her legs weaken at the idea of continuing on forward.

Yet continue on she did.

“No.”

“...--Excuse me?”

Just as he turned around, his eyes shimmering and rimmed red with a more than justified look of surprise did Momoi wrap her arms around him, tiny hands moving to gently guide the others face to the crook of her shoulder as she embraced him.

“No, Tetsu-kun...I don’t want to leave you.” Momoi mumbled, her eyes tightly shut as her face bloomed a glorious red. Kuroko stayed silent, the only audible thing detectable being his short breath that would every so often brush against her ear.

“You know...Tetsu-kun, you know that you’re always there for me, right? Everytime I fight with Dai-chan, the idiot that he is, or if I’m hurt or even in a bad mood, Tetsu-kun is always there for me. You wipe away my tears and make me feel so much better-- you see?” She spoke, her voice growing stronger the longer she talked, her hand that had been keeping Kuroko close by her now moving to lightly rub at his neck.

“So why can’t I do that for you? You’re not alone, you know. I’m here, and so is Dai-chan, Ki-chan, Akashi-kun, Mukkun and Midorin. You understand that, mm?”

She could feel him begin to shake once more, but in tinier, calmer quakes that were easily scooped up by her loving embrace.

“So, don’t hide your tears, Tetsu-kun. Let me help you like you always help me.”

Momoi felt the wetness soak through her shirt before she even heard Kuroko reply.

“...Thank you.”

He moved his hand up, holding her forearm and gripping at the material there.

“Thank you, Momoi-san.”

She smiled, warmly so, and gave a little hum in return.

“I apologize in advance, however... please don’t go anywhere quite yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ACTUALLY CRYING HELP I LOVE THEM SO MUCH--  
> also I listened to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtivZqZoOnI while writing this. ^q^


	5. Player Five: Murasakibara Atsushi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah height differencessssss

Murasakibara was not in the mood for basketball today. He just wanted to sit down and eat his snacks, rest. Basketball was almost always a chore for him, even if he didn’t have to honestly try during practices. It still was bothersome for him.

What was even more so bothersome was the tiny sniffles he kept hearing from behind the entrance of the gym. Someone who he thought he would never see cry so openly before. Kuroko.

With a grunt, he purposely missed Aomine’s pass to him and thoroughly ignored his shouts back to him as he walked away. He could feel Aka-chin’s steady gaze on him but some things were just much more important than say playing basketball right now.

He went and grabbed Kuroko from the scruff of his shirt and hoisted him up and away from the door where he was concealed. Kuroko was shocked-- a bit embarrassed as Murasakibara was able to pick him up so casually. Exclaiming a bit in surprise, he tried to wiggle away from the other’s hold, keeping his face down so that no one would have to see his tears he was unable to wipe away.

Murasakibara stared for a long time, his usual bored pout jutting out even further than usual. Honestly, now of all times?

With a sigh, he brought Kuroko with him as he went to sit down near his bag, which was filled with an abundance of treats (unsurprisingly). As he sat down, he brought Kuroko onto his lap and with ease, encased him within his arms.

He could hear Aomine hollering with laughter from the scene before him, hear Kise start to cry from jealousy and from the corner of his eye see Midorima mess up on a jump shot, accidently hitting one of the upperclassmen in the process.

“M--Murasakibara-kun! Let me go!” Kuroko shouted, struggling against the others lap.

“Mm...Nah~.” Came the lazy reply, Murasakibara moving to grab at one of his snacks from inside his bag. “Kuro-chin looks sad. I’ll give you a treat, so stop crying.” He drawled out, finding what he was looking for and dropping a candy chew into Kuroko’s hands. “It’s a good one too-- so no more tears.”

Kuroko blinked down at the chew and settled down somewhat, sniffling as he moved it around in his hand. Murasakibara, who was already opening a bag of chips with his free hand and mouth, grunted down at the smaller boy.

“What’s wrong~? I thought you liked vanilla.” He grumbled before stuffing his face full of his potato chips. Kuroko glanced up at him, wincing as a few crumbs landed on his face.

“I do…”

“Then eeeeeeeeaaaaaatttttt.”

“If I eat it, will you let me go?”

“...No.” Came the stubborn, muffled reply as Murasakibara chewed. Kuroko sighed a bit and began to unwrap the treat either way. “Kuro-chin needs protectinggggg. He’ll fall apart without help.”

Kuroko felt a bit of a blush fill up his cheeks before he angrily popped the chew into his mouth. It was strawberry vanilla-- the combination of flavours filling him up and calming him down, amazingly enough. He knew Murasakibara had good intentions, yet at the same time he felt a bit manhandled-- far from what he considered part of his comfort zone. But Murasakibara was warm against his back and his arms were strong, keeping him upright to his chest. They were the same age yet the giant was far, far too advanced in growth between the two of them. It was embarrassing...And nice, at the same time.

As silly as it was to admit, Kuroko did feel protected with the other.

Kuroko chewed carefully before he smiled lightly and curled up a bit within Murasakibara’s hold.

“Fine. I got it. But I want another one of those candies.”

“Eeeehhh?”


	6. Final Player: Akashi Seijuurou

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short, simple, to the point-- that's our Akashi *u*

He found Tetsuya before anyone else. He was stuck in the nurses office, cut up with little nicks off his face, bruises swelling at the side of his arms and bloodied knees that were difficult to move. The nurse excused herself when she saw Akashi walk in towards Kuroko, assuming they wanted to talk for a bit. Kuroko sat up a bit straighter, blinking away tears caused from pain as he pressed an ice pack to his arm.

“Tetsuya.” Akashi said, moving to sit down next to the other, awfully close yet comfortably so for the Shadow.

“Ah...Akashi-kun. What are you doing here?” Kuroko asked, still trying desperately to get in control of his emotions.

“Here to see you, of course.” Akashi murmured, a small, polite smile playing on his face as he spoke. Kuroko nodded and allowed himself to relax somewhat, his quivering shoulders loosening and falling down. Akashi continued to stare patiently at the other, the smile softening as he moved in through the silence between them and grabbed ahold of Kuroko’s jaw. Kuroko looked up slowly, eyes confused and reddening from unshed tears. “...Who did this to you?”

He could see Kuroko flinch at that as he looked away from the loud stare Akashi was giving him.

“Nobody. I merely fell off the stairs, is all.” He mumbled, pushing against Akashi’s hold on his chin to try and turn his head, yet Akashi held on strong, with gentle motives through out.

“Ryouta told me otherwise. He told me some upperclassmen tripped you and ran away when they saw you falling off the edge of the stairs.”

Kuroko frowned and closed his eyes for a moment, knowing his eyes were stinging once again.

“...Who are they? I wish to merely speak with them, Tetsuya. You could have been greatly injured. They need to know that.”

“I’m sure they already regret it, Akashi-kun.” Kuroko managed out in a quiet voice. With a sigh, Akashi’s smile dropped somewhat. He always did this-- kept things to himself. From little things like practicing past their usual time after school to when he was targeted on by those who knew nothing about who he was. He was Teiko’s Phantom Sixth man-- he was their trick card. He was Kuroko Tetsuya-- and he was important.

How dare those idiots do something so risky to Kuroko? How dare they do that to someone underneath Akashi?

With soft motions, he dragged his hand along Kuroko’s jawline and down his neck. He felt Kuroko jump at that before he relaxed against Akashi’s hand.

“...Are you in pain?” The ‘Emperor’ asked quietly. Kuroko shook his head before he opened his eyes to meet Akashi’s gaze. Smiling once again, he nodded at the response. “Good.” He murmured, watching as a single tear finally escaped and fell down Kuroko’s nearly swollen cheek. “I don’t like seeing you in pain.”


	7. BONUS Challenger! : Kagami Taiga

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh noooooooooo

Kagami had seen his partner cry far too many times already-- from stress and lack of will, to even tiny little things that caught him by surprise, allowing a few stray tears to fall unnoticed. Kuroko was hardly one to really express himself openly, so whenever he did, it was _Kagami_ who was caught by surprise.

Tonight had been no different. Kuroko wasn't doing so well with the new drills Riko had ordered them to do; he had stumbled and crashed multiple times before Riko finally called for a short break. When Kagami went to take a drink from his bottle, he saw from the corner of his eye Kuroko leaving the gym.

He called out to his senpai, telling them he would be back in a few minutes and rushed out to catch Kuroko before he had completely lost sight of him. A few feet ahead sat his Shadow, curled up with his face nestled between his bruised up knees, body trembling with every new cry that came.

Kagami had been quiet walking up to the other and sat down just as silent beside him. Kuroko only had noticed the red head when Kagami had placed a hand upon his shoulder, gently working his fingers across his back.

“Oi, Kuroko…” Kagami called out, his voice breathy from their previous work out. Kuroko glanced up, looking rather defeated as he caught the others gaze.

“Kagami-kun…”

The other grinned at Kuroko as his hand fell from the other’s back to find his hand instead.

“C’mon-- tell me what’s wrong.”

And suddenly Kuroko could feel the tears come far worse than before and he held onto Kagami’s hand as he continuously messed up on his words and mumbled far too quietly for the other to hear without straining yet Kagami was there. He stayed with Kuroko and nodded silently and squeezed his partner’s hand whenever he felt like the tears would nearly drown him alive. And although Kuroko felt foolish afterwards, there was no more weight on his chest and his limbs were still shaky however secure because Kagami pulled him up to his feet and wrapped his arms around his broken bones and Kuroko could have sworn he had melted then.

Kagami couldn't fix him entirely, nor did he wanted to-- Kagami was there to help him back up, to stay close to him through out the way so that when time came, and Kuroko was ready to face his fears and become stronger still, Kagami would already be standing there with him.

While Kagami pulled away from the hug and lifted his hand once more to brush away the dampened hair, Kuroko felt nothing but gratitude. He was thankful for such a good friend and he was thankful for having this support-- they may argue more so than anyone else on the team and they both had their own faults and matters to deal with but Kuroko knew that no matter where life would take them, they would still be working hard to complete their mutual wish of becoming number one in Japan.

And as Kuroko felt the others lips press across his temple, he couldn't help but feel like that promise was nothing but strengthened once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you guys tell that it's my OTP yet...?

**Author's Note:**

> First posting on this site*, thought I'd do something sweet...Simply because fluff fuels my soul. ^q^


End file.
